High school had been a very
busy time full of volleyball, basketball, track and having honor roll grades
plus keeping a job for extra money, so when I graduated in 1991 taking a year
off to work and save money seemed the right thing to do. I had never
been sick with any major illnesses so when hives suddenly began appearing
doctors quickly dismissed them as some summertime allergy. Soon afterwards
I began getting arthritis that jumped from one joint to another, spiking fevers,
sore throats all the time, swollen liver, spleen and lymph glands and hives that
came every afternoon and disappeared over night.

The first rheumatologist that
I seen quickly diagnosed me with lupus....but added that it didn't really matter
what type of auto immune disease it was because all the treatments were the
same! He pumped me up with all kinds of drugs including prednisone which
seemed to be the only thing that I responded to. I went through a series
of remissions and flares which landed me in the hospital a few times each year
until during one really bad flare where muscle weakness and pain was sooo bad I
couldn't move not even to roll over in bed, my father freaked on the doctors and
I was again readmitted for a series of tests until Stills Disease was finally
diagnosed.

I have had to go through
muscle biopsies where muscle was taken from my thigh and arm without freezing,
two bone marrow tests to try and find reasoning to my severe anemia, two
gastroscopies to see if internal bleeding was present, removal of a lymph gland
to see why it was so swollen, six blood transfusions and many (too many to
count) needles for never ending gold injections and blood tests every month.

Lucky for me my Stills has
seemed to go into remission but now left me with a whole new fight.....the
damage left from swelling of my joints and strong medication used to combat it.
Thus I have reached the hardest turning point yet: three weeks after my 25
birthday on the 29 of April in 1998 I had bilateral hip replacements! Then
on July 6, 1998 my right knee was replaced and on August 19 the left knee
was replaced! Sadly, next on my list are my shoulders.

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This page was last updated on January 17, 2001